


Family Ties

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drama, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-10
Updated: 2011-12-10
Packaged: 2019-01-19 07:10:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12405537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: People wear masks. Appearances can be deceiving. Is the perfectly happy Weasley family really perfectly happy? (written pre-HBP)





	Family Ties

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

_ A/N: I wrote this story in August 2005; it was based on something that my father screamed at my brother and I when he was angry.  Six years later, my brother and I have both done a LOT of growing up and we've moved out.  My parents are still together. _

_DISCLAIMER: All characters and places belong to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury, Scholastic, Warner Brothers, etc._

***************************************************************************

_“I can’t even have a good relationship with my wife because my children keep screwing up!”_

Ginny listened from her room as her father lectured the twins once again. They had done something stupid and now Arthur was livid. As her father kept shouting, Ginny locked the door to her room and sat in her wardrobe, where she felt safe.

Her parents should have divorced years ago; it was obvious to all of the children that things just weren’t what they used to be. No one else knew though; a decade of practice had caused the perfect façade to hide a dying marriage and a weakened family. No one would ever dare to guess that the Weasleys weren’t happy.

Whenever there was an event that required their presence, the entire family went, dressed in their best clothing and smiling like nothing was wrong. But the smiles felt forced, and the children tried to avoid being photographed, knowing that the fakeness would show. When the children were away – that was when they were truly happy.

Ginny listened as her father’s footsteps retreated down the hall, feeling relieved that her mother was out. Things were always so tense these days, and it felt even worse whenever there were visitors. Oh, Molly and Arthur acted like the perfect parents, and the children acted like nothing was wrong, so the guests didn’t notice. But Ginny, whose room was right next to her parents, could hear Molly and Arthur bickering quietly into the early hours of the morning, and was able to notice the strained smiles and tired eyes.

_“Arthur, I want a divorce”_

_“Molly, we can’t do that…what would people think?”_

_“Look at Amelia Bones and Albus Dumbledore; did you ever hear anything unkind being said about their divorce?”  
_

_“Well, no…but Molly, they’re both highly respected individuals. And besides, what about the children?”  
_

_“I’m sure that they’d be fine; for Merlin’s sake, Arthur, they’re all practically grown; in case you hadn’t noticed, our youngest just turned 16. Three of our sons don’t even live here anymore, the twins are always at their shop, and Ginny and Ron are leaving for school in less than a month. We’re the only ones here, Arthur…and I don’t want to live with you anymore.”  
_

_“Molly, the children would be traumatized. Please…let’s just stay together – for the children.”  
_

_“Alright Arthur – we’ll stay together for the children. But as soon as Ginny and Ron leave, you’re staying in a different bedroom.”_

So, time went on, with the fake faces and the hidden lies. The lack of communication between Molly and Arthur was constantly blamed on some sibling or another, and it got to the point where the house felt suffocating.

One afternoon, it got to be too much. Molly and Arthur were having a full-blown fight in the kitchen, having forgotten that Ginny was home. Feeling as if she was about to explode, Ginny leapt from her floor and ran. She fled down the stairs and out the front door, around the side of the house, and out the back gate. Her fists pumped at her sides, and her feet moved as if wearing Hermes’ winged sandals. She jumped over a stream, ducked under a tree branch, and kept moving.

Finally, with legs aching for a rest, she stopped in a small clearing. Gasping for breath, she sat on a rock, tears streaming down her cheeks. She remembered all the fights and lies, remembered the months of torturous silence. Glaring through her tears, she turned towards the twilight-tinted sky and let out a hoarse and ragged cry. She screamed until her throat was sore, and then, energy spent, she curled up into a ball and cried herself to sleep.

She awoke hours later to the soft hooting of a wild owl. Rolling over to lie on her back, Ginny stared up at the star-studded sky. She felt entirely at peace, her body feeling more relaxed than it had in months. However, it was only a few short minutes until she remembered why she was out in the middle of the woods at night. The memories came flooding back, and she could feel the muscles in her legs tensing once again, preparing to run.

“Ginny, is that you?” The voice came from the trees at the edge of the clearing. She squinted her eyes, trying without any luck to see deeper into the shadows.

“Who’s there?” she asked, feeling slightly nervous. But the masculine voice was very familiar; if she hadn’t been so exhausted, Ginny was sure that she’d have placed it immediately.

There was a sound of crackling twigs as the owner of the voice stepped forward into the soft glow of the starlight. Ginny immediately recognized the ginger hair, the lanky limbs, the strange loping walk. It was her brother Ron.

“Gin, are you okay?” he asked, voice full of concern. “I came home and I couldn’t find you. I asked Mum and Dad where you had gone, but they didn’t know. What happened?” Ginny ran to her brother and hugged him, glad to know that at least one member of her family had noticed her disappearance.

“Ron, I’m so sorry. It’s just that…well, Mum and Dad were fighting again, and I felt like I was suffocating. I had to get out, so I just ran. By the time I got here, I was so tired that I just fell asleep.” She gave him a shaky apologetic smile, and he immediately tugged at her pigtail.

“Well, before you run of next time, at least leave a note or something. I’m your older brother Ginny, so I’m going to take care of you, whether you want me to or not. Anyways, with everyone else gone, working, or fighting, you’re all the family I’ve got.”

He sat on the ground next to her and took off a beat-up backpack. Unzipping it, he took out a sandwich and gave it to her.

“Sorry, it’s corned beef; that’s the only kind that I could make,” he said apologetically as Ginny took a huge bite out of the sandwich. She shook off his words; she hadn’t eaten in hours, and the sandwich definitely tasted better on an empty stomach than it usually would have.

“Ron, I just don’t want you to feel like you need to watch after your little sister or anything. I mean, I may not be considered of age yet, but I can definitely fend for myself. I don’t need my big brother watching my every step anymore.” She brushed off the crumbs from her sandwich and stood up, more than a head shorter than him but still looking as if she could hold her own.

“Ginny, it isn’t that. It isn’t that at all. It’s just…well, Fred and George have always had each other, and Bill and Charlie look out for each other, and Percy…well, Percy’s just a git, and who needs him anyway? I know that you’ve always been the one watched over the most because you’re the youngest and you’re a girl, but the past couple of years, you’ve become something more. You’ve become a friend, Gin. I mean, sure I was a bit annoyed when you and Harry started dating, but – well, if things end badly between you two, I don’t know what I’ll do; you’d be asking me to choose between my best mate and my sister, and that isn’t fair. But, this isn’t supposed to be about me; it’s supposed to be about us, and how I’ll always be here for you, no matter what. You understand what I mean, right?” he begged, blue eyes so much like hers pleading.

“I know,” she sighed, shivering a bit. Sometime during the hours that she’d been asleep, it had gotten cold and damp outside. “Hey, Ron, do you really mean what you just said?” she asked, her eyes twinkling in the midnight darkness.

“Of course I do, Ginny.”

“Well, then…can I borrow your jumper?” she asked, teeth chattering lightly. Ron started laughing, and Ginny joined in.

“Here,” he said, reaching into his bag. “I figured that you wouldn’t have brought anything with you – we’re more alike than either of us would care to admit, and you know it – so I brought the jumper that was on your bed.” He handed her the fuzzy pink monstrosity, grimacing at it slightly. “I have to say, it’s things like this that make me glad I’m not a girl.”

She pulled the jumper over her head, reveling in its warmth. She tugged the sleeves down past her wrists and over her palms before impulsively throwing her arms around Ron’s neck.

“Thank you, Ron,” she whispered against his chest as tears started filling her eyes. “Maybe – just maybe – I need someone to look after me more than I thought.” He awkwardly wrapped his arms around her, patting her gently on the back, before letting go of her and stepping back.

“C’mon Gin,” he said, picking his bag up from the hard packed dirt. “Let’s go home.”

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Three weeks later, Ginny sat in her room, neatly packing her last few items into her trunk for school. She tucked in her comb, brush, and cosmetics case before reaching for the last item in her room. As she picked up the jumper off the foot of her bed, she remembered hearing her parents’ arguments the night before. However, instead of feeling angry and trapped, she thought back to her conversation with Ron from that night in the woods. She folded the jumper neatly and laid it next to her school robes, smiling gently to herself. She wasn’t sure if things would work out between her parents, but at least she knew that she could always count on someone. It was nice to know that she wouldn’t have to run again.

A light knock sounded on her door, breaking her away from her thoughts. She closed and fastened her trunk as the door opened.

“All set, Gin?” her brother asked, lugging his own trunk behind him. “We have to leave in an hour, so if you want to eat before leaving, now’s the time.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled up at him.

“Ron, I’ll make a deal with you: levitate my trunk downstairs for me and I’ll make pancakes.” She left the room and tossed a quick grin over her shoulder as he rolled his eyes. Once in the kitchen, she busied herself with the pancakes. Maybe her family wasn’t normal…but what was normal anyway? As long as someone had her back, she was home.

 

_The End_

 


End file.
